The University of Hawai'i will close Gartley Hall on the Manoa campus indefinitely after major structural damage was found in the 88-year-old building during a recent inspection.

Gartley is one of the older buildings on the campus and houses the Department of Psychology faculty offices as well as classrooms. The three-story building was built in 1921 and was scheduled for a major renovation.

But during a preliminary structural survey, inspectors discovered significant damage to the columns on the west side of the structure. The university said the columns had "failed" because of the deterioration of reinforcing steel bars and that others may be compromised.

The psychology classes have been relocated to classrooms across the Manoa campus and the university is moving the 135 personnel who work in the building.

Gregg Takayama, UH spokesman, said engineers will determine in the next two to three weeks whether the building can be saved.

"That's one of the reasons we want to move people out, so that engineers can take a closer look at doing core sampling and removing some of the walls so they can look more closely at the structural integrity of the building," Takayama said.

Gartley Hall has had just one major renovation since it was open and that was more than 40 years ago, Takayama said. He said the university was planning to renovate the building for years, but has been unable to secure funding.

He said UH estimated several years ago that it would cost $13 million to renovate the building, but Takayama said it will "probably be substantially more" because of the severity of the damage.

"It's been known for years that it's been deteriorating," Takayama said. "There have been efforts to shore it up temporarily while we try and get money to do a deeper renovation of the project."

Addressing the campus' crumbling facilities was one of the top priorities of Manoa Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw when she took office in November 2007. In a statement yesterday, she underscored the need for constant maintenance work and adequate funding for these projects.

"Repairs and maintenance has continued as a high priority for the UH-Manoa campus, and the situation at Gartley Hall is an unfortunate reminder how critical funding is needed to maintain our buildings for the safety of our staff and students," Hinshaw said.

This past legislative session, Hinshaw told lawmakers that the Manoa campus alone was in need of $400 million to cover the campus' repair and maintenance backlog. Instead, the Legislature approved $158 million for the next fiscal year.

In the meantime, school officials have been scrambling to find alternative classrooms and office space. Catherine Sophian, acting chairwoman of the Psychology Department, said faculty and staff have been preparing to move because of the pending renovation, but she said no one thought they'd have to move out so soon.

Sophian said it's likely that staff will be spread out for the time being. If Gartley is closed for an extended period, the school will have to find more permanent space for the department.

"The administration is calling it, 'Think of it as camping out for a little while,' " she said. "During that time they'll determine if it will be possible to move back to Gartley fairly soon or not for a couple of years."